Darkness Be My Hero

It takes two to tango with the story

Clary sat on a couch in the dimly lit library reading a dusty copy of Dracula, waiting for Sophia.  The library was quite small and the only other person there was the librarian. Outside the cold harsh wind whipped against the window, making it whistle. Clary wondered if it might snow soon.

The old father clock had chimed at 12 noon a few minutes ago, but Sophia had still not shown her face. A couple more minutes had passed, when the library door opened and the very beautiful Sophia walked in. She wore a fur hooded coat, jeans and black flats. Her hood covered a lot of her tinged pink face but a few strands of blonde hair shone through. As she approached Clary she took off her hood and a bright smile spread across her face.

“Sorry I’m late” her voice was very quiet.

“It’s okay, I was reading anyway” Clary said holding up the cover of Dracula, before closing it and placing it on the table in front of her.

They were both silent for a few moments. Clary knew Sophia was hesitant about telling her about the mansion, but Clary wanted to know how to break this “curse” and set those poor people free, especially little Ally.

“Sophia… What were you talking about the other day? A curse? I had no idea what you meant. Bad things will happen?”

“I’m sorry, I wish I could do something I really do.” She said sitting down across from her, intertwining her fingers in front of her.

“There’s a curse that lingers among the house. It all began when Mr Findley brought the house. Somehow buying this house changed him, like something had entrapped his soul and left a linger of evil. It all started after he cleared the attic. He forbids me or anyone else to enter, even Mrs Findley. Whenever he spots someone on his property he enrages! He takes them and locks them in that cruel room. If it weren’t for me feeding them they would be dead. I begged and pleaded for him to release them and set them free like the doves birds in the sky. But he refuses and bad things happen to me” Her voice went quiet and she turned pale, rubbing her cheek as if someone had newly slapped her.

“What did he do to you? Clarys thoughts trailed back to the night were she was hiding in the cupboard. Mr Findley had yelled and screamed at her, then acted all affectionate; stroking her face...

“That doesn’t matter;” Sophia said quickly “I’ve been researching, trying to find anything about some curse that might give me a clue. I found one book; it’s about the history of the mansion.”

 Sophia stood up and walked to one of the rows of bookshelves, Clary following behind. She stopped and pulled out a thick dusty book from the shelf and brought it back to the table and opened it up to a tabbed page. Scanning it as if she were looking for something.

“It’s says something about a book that remains in an attic, apparently it cannot be moved. It’s called “The Elders of Time”.  Apparently it contains an enchantment that was written by an elder by the same of Zachariah. Whenever this enchantment is spoken it curses the soul of the house and curses the master or the owner, leaving them with strokes of evil.” Sophia read.

“Is that all?” Clary asked. Finally she would be able to help Sophia and those poor people.

Sophia shook her head.

“There’s got to be something else, how are we supposed to break the curse?”

“We could not possibly do that, what if Mr Findley found out? No, no no!”

The librarian looked up from what she was doing and gave Sophia a dirty look through her spectacles. Sophia muttered a sorry and the librarian continued her work.

Clary walked over to the back of the library to the small box computer. She turned it on and then waited.

“What are you doing?” Sophia questioned

“Trying to find more information on the book and how we can break this curse.”

Sophia nodded. Clary typed into the search bar The Elders of Time and sat back and waited.

It came up with a lot of responses. Harry Potter, a book called The Elders, even a vacuum ad.

After searching a while Clary finally found a page that gave her the information she wanted.

The Elders of Time.

The book was written hundreds of years ago by the Elder Zachariah. The book was published in 1872 and was said to withhold an enchantment, that when spoken sets a curse on the soul of the household it occupies and the owner of the house. There was only one book published but after the First World War in 1914, the book went mysteriously missing and was never to be seen again, Rumour says that it has been stolen and kept somewhere safe and unmovable.  Before Elder Zachariah tragically died he revealed that the only way to abolish the curse is to rip out the page in which the enchantment is printed then burnt with the blood of the person who is trying to break the curse.

Clary looked at Sophia in both shock and excitement. Plans started rushing through Clary’s mind.

“Do you know where the book may be?” Clary asked

“Yes, in the attic, but how are we supposed to do this when they are there? They will catch us for sure”

“I’m not sure, are they going to any functions this week?”

“No..” Sophia’s voice trailed off for a minute in thought, then her face lit up like a light; a bright smile spreading across her lips. “They have to go to the city in a couple of days. They will be gone for a few hours.” Hesitation shone through Sophia’s eyes.

“We can do it” Clary reassured her. They both got up and then started planning for when Ruby and Mr and Mrs Findley left for the city.